Crypto lender BlockFi files for bankruptcy

STORY: Another cryptocurrency firm with ties to FTX has fallen.

BlockFi filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New Jersey court on Monday.

It's the latest casualty in the industry following the spectacular collapse of the FTX exchange earlier this month.

BlockFi was particularly entangled with the exchange...

...the firm said its substantial exposure through loans to Alameda, a crypto trading firm affiliated with FTX-

- had sparked a liquidity crisis.

It also had cryptocurrencies held on FTX's platform that became trapped there.

In the filing, BlockFi listed its assets and liabilities as being between $1 and $10 billion dollars - with more than 100,000 creditors.

The filing comes as crypto prices have plummeted.

The price of bitcoin - the most popular digital currency - is down more than 70% from a 2021 peak.

BlockFi on Monday also sued a holding company for the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

It is seeking to recover shares in Robinhood that had allegedly been pledged as collateral just days before FTX collapsed.

BlockFi's first bankruptcy hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.